Hominy-machine



P.. SIEMERS.

i Hominy Machine. No, 18,413. y Patented 01:1. 13', 1852;

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

PETER SIEMERS, OF ST. LOUIS., MISSOURI.

HoMINY-MAGHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 18,413, dated October 13, 1857.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER SIEMERs, of the city of St. Louis and State ofMissouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hominy-Machines;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing,making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a top view;Fig. 2 a section through A', and Fig. 3 a side elevation.

Similar letters on the different figures represent corresponding parts.

My improvement consists in fixing in the periphery of a cylindricalstone, a series of double corrugated knives, or breakers, and ofcombining the said stone (having the knives arranged as aforesaid,) witha cylinder, having burs on its inturned surface, the said burs to movein a ldirection opposite to that of the said knives, .or breakers, whereby the corn will be broken by the action of the knives, and thrownagainst the burred cylinder, which, moving in an opposite direction,will hull it, and throw it back in contact with the stone, which willpolish it, thus completing the operation of making hominy much quicker,and make it better than any other method with which I am acquainted. AndI also combine with the aforesaid arrangement an automatic alarm, whichshall give notice when the aforesaid operation is completed.

To enable others to make and use my improvement, I will proceed todescribe its construction and operation, which is as follows:

A is the frame of the machine.

B is a cylindrical stone, fixed on an axle, which has its bearing in apair of plummer blocks fixed on the frame as shown at c, and in theperiphery of the said stone a series of double corrugated knives orbreakers are fixed as shown at a, which are to be made as shown at Fig.5, X being an end, and 'Y a side view of the same.

D is a hollow cylinder, the ends of which are to be made of wood ormetal as the case may require, and the shell is to be made of sheet ironor other sheet metal, and is to be punched full of small angular holesfrom the outside toward the center, whereby burs will be formed on themiddle surface, as shown at b b. The ends, of the said cylinder are alsoto be lined with sheet metal punched similar to the shell, as shown at'0,

Fig. 2. constructed is swung on the axle of the stone B and is made torevolve in a direction opposite to it, through the agency of the two cogwheels E F and the pulley Gr. The cog wheel E being fixed against theend of the cylinder as shown, and the wheel F on the shaft H, as is alsothe pulley G, so that if a belt is led from the shaft C, around thepulley G, it will cause the cylinder to revolve in a direction oppositeto that of the stone, as shown by the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2.

The upper part of the cylinder I) is covered with a box, shown at II,which for the sake of perspicuity has been omitted in Figs. 1 and 3.This box may be made in any convenient shape, so long as it covers thecylinder and forms a proper receiver for the hopper J. This hopper ismade of the ordinary form and has a canvas or leather leader fixedaround its lower end, so that when it is desirous to charge thecylinder, this leader can be readily entered into the receiving nozzle cthrough a hole cut in the box I, directly opposite the receiving nozzle,in which the operator can put his hand and control the position of saidleader.

In the bottom of the receiving nozzle a small slide is placed, which isclosed after the cylinder is charged, so as to keep the grain fromfalling out. The arrangement is shown in dotted lines at c, Fig. 2.

In the end of the cylinder D at e a small pin is fixed, which inrevolving strikes the pins 7 1^ fixed in the head of the screw s, whichcauses the said screw to turn a given distance, every revolution of thecylinder, whereby in a given time the follower H is detached from thescrew which causes the bell t to strike an alarm.

Let it be desired to charge the machine and put it in operation. Thecylinder is turned, so as to bring the receiving nozzle to correspondwith the hopper. The machine is then supplied with the required amountof corn. After which the slide j is closed, the leader removed and themachine put in motion. The knives, or breakers, then commence to operateon the corn, so as to break it, take out the heart, and throw it againstthe burred cylinder,.which complet-es their duty. The cylinder,revolving in the opposite direction, catches the broken kernels, andhulls them and throws them back against the stone, which completes itsduty The said cylinder having been so A,

and the stone in carrying the particles around on its surface polshesthem, which completes its duty, and the entire operation, and by thetime this operation is completed the follower H Will have run off of thescrew s and the bell t struck the alarm or in other Words give noticethat the Work is done.

The machine is then stopped. The slide n is removed, which allows thehominy to fall from the cylinder into anything placed to receive it.

It will beseen that the corrugated knives break the kernel and take outthe heart, and that the burred cylinder hulls it, and the stone polishesit, each of these parts thus performingla separate function, and each ofthem necessary to carry out the design, which is to make pure hominy.

Now a cylinder having corrugated knives or breakers has been usedbefore, in combination With a burred cylinder, as such an arrangement isshown in the application of William Davis. But this arrangement onlybreaks the kernel and hulls it; but does not polish it, which is thefunction performed by the stone in my machine. I am aware that meresubstitution is not patentable, unless the thing substituted performs aseparate function and is a real improvement,

which the stone in the relation I have placed it really is.

I therefore claim- The stone, in combination With the corri1- gatedknives and burred cylinder, when used for the purpose specified, andoperated

